


Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince

by koalasmiles



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Based on a Taylor Swift Song, F/M, Hogwarts Seventh Year, Lily Evans is a Badass, Lily transfers from America, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Snape sucks, Transfer au, jily
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:15:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22012444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/koalasmiles/pseuds/koalasmiles
Summary: James never really bothered himself with the whispers of people in the hallways. They were all just rumors and gossip that he didn't care to hear. But when the rumors say that there is a new student coming to Hogwarts, he has to admit that he's intrigued. The impressive things they say she's done only solidify her reputation as a badass before she even arrives.Lily had never been one to listen to the opinions of others. But, when she finds herself in a completely new school, sometimes the words people share are her only source of information. So when people say that her new friend James is a bit of a player, she has no other knowledge to weigh it against.Seeing past a reputation can be a hard thing. Can they look hard enough to find out who the other truly is?
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 25





	1. A New Student

James heard about her before he ever met her. 

This is no surprise, of course. Rumors travel fast in any school, and Hogwarts was no exception. By his seventh year, James mostly ignored gossip, but there comes a point when even he couldn’t tune out the whispers. 

“ — all the way from America — ”

“ — fully corporeal Patronus — ”

“ — kicked out — ”

“ — fought off ten — ”

“ — twenty — ”

“ — _ fifty  _ dementors — ”

What he could gather after separating out the parts that sounded like exaggerations was that there was a girl transferring into Hogwarts from America. This in itself wasn’t too strange, Hogwarts had been home to Americans before, after all. The part that caused excitement was that she was much older than any transfer student anyone could remember, and she was supposed to arrive mid-October, rather than the usual September first. 

Figuring this all out by the second week of September, he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn’t actually know more until she arrived. Of course, this didn’t stop others from speculating and spreading more tales. 

* * *

By October 15, the rumors had grown to include that she could produce multiple Patronuses at once, fought off 100 dementors, became an animagus at 13, and had been kicked out of Ilvermorny for hexing a professor that had accidentally bumped into her in the hallway. 

James was buttering his toast at breakfast and talking with Sirius about the possibility of making the Halloween feast have a surprise final course when the entire Great Hall turned silent. All eyes had turned to the entrance. 

The first thing James noticed was red hair on black leather. The girl turned her head, looking at each person in the eyes as if daring anyone to question her presence in the hall. When she met his eyes, James quickly closed his mouth, which had been hanging open. She quirked an eyebrow, looking amused.

Remus was the first to move, standing and waving her over. 

“Moony, what are you doing?” hissed Sirius. 

“Dumbledore asked me to show her around.” Remus replied nonchalantly. James couldn’t take his eyes off her, noticing that she wore the usual school uniform, but with a leather jacket instead of robes. 

Remus smiled and sat down as she got to the table. 

“Remus Lupin, I assume?” she said, taking a seat.

“The one and only. This is James, Peter, and Sirius.” Remus pointed to each of them in turn. James gave what he hoped was a confident smile. 

“The Marauders. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. I’ve heard of you.”

James had no idea about how she had heard of them. As much as he would like to believe that their pranks and other escapades had become famous and widely known, he knew that the possibility was unlikely. And, considering the looks of surprise that came from around the room when she entered, she definitely hadn’t been there long enough to hear someone mention them in passing. She truly was a mystery.

“And what might your name be?” Asked James, thankful that his voice never wavered. What was it about this girl that made him so nervous? He knew that the rumors couldn’t be true. His heart shouldn’t pound around her. And yet—

“Evans. Lily Evans. I’m new, if you couldn’t tell.” She smiled at the last part, knowing full well that there was no way he didn’t know. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Lily. Would you happen to be a seventh year?” James replied, gaining his confidence again.

“I am. I’m also told that I’m a Gryffindor, if that helps.” 

“Finally, another Gryffindor with a sense of fashion,” Sirius said, noticing her jacket.

Lily smiled at him. “Leather is my first choice when flying. And when walking. Pretty much everywhere, actually.”

James perked up when he heard her mention flying. “Flying? On a broom? Would you happen to be interested in Quid—”

“Would you like us to take you to Gryffindor tower? We can figure out your schedule there,” cut in Remus, making James frown. He wanted to know if she was a fan of his favorite sport. 

“Sounds good,” she replied, gesturing for Remus to lead the way.

* * *

In the Gryffindor common room, they figured out that she shared all the same classes as Remus, and was put in a room with Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary. James offered to help her catch up in Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration, all of which she declined.

“I’m a fast learner. I think I’ll be fine. However, if you could help me figure out this crazy, confusing building layout, I would be very grateful.”

“I’m more suited for that task than you would expect,” he quickly agreed.

She raised an eyebrow at this. “If you say so.”

She turned and walked to the stairs, going up to her room. James mentally smacked himself.  _ That sounded so arrogant. I really need to stop making myself look like a fool in front of her.  _ He thought glumly.

“What do you know about her?” James asked Remus. Remus chuckled.

“As much as you do. If you want to learn more, why don’t you ask her?”

James rolled his eyes. “I will, but you can’t expect me to climb up into the girls dormitories, can you?”

Remus sat down with some homework. “No, but I suspect you’ll interrogate her as you show her around the castle.”

James’ face reddened, and he turned to grab his bag from their room. Once he got back to the common room, he found Lily waiting for him. 

“Shall we?” she asked, motioning to the door. He put his strap around his shoulders, making sure that the map wasn’t peeking out of the bag. 

“Right. On to Potions.”

* * *

They arrived a couple of minutes early, and he offered her the seat next to him. She gave him a grateful smile, and pulled out her potions book before sitting down. 

Slughorn approached them, looking nervous. He must have heard the rumor about her hexing a professor. 

“You must be Miss Evans. Welcome to Advanced Potions. We’ve been moving at a rapid pace so far this semester, so if you need help, feel free to ask. If I’m busy, Mr. Snape behind you is the best in the class, so I’m sure he’ll be able to answer any questions.”

Lily gave him a strained smile. “Thank you, Professor, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.” She looked back down, and started taking notes in her new textbook. 

Slughorn gave a small laugh, and then excused himself to start the class. 

“Hello everyone, today we will be brewing Excresco, a potion used to make plants grow quickly. It can be found on page thirty-two. Each person must work alone. You may begin.”

James pulled out his cauldron and found the ingredients detailed in the book. He poured in his beetle eyes, and then took out his beetroot to start cutting. He heard Lily start humming an upbeat song next to him. He didn’t recognize it, so he turned and asked what it was. 

“Eleanor Rigby. The Beatles?” She held up a couple beetle eyes.

He shook his head, confused. 

“Ah, must not be very caught up on Muggle culture then.” She put the beetle eyes back on the table, and started squishing them with the flat of her blade. He had no idea why Muggles listened to music about beetles. He decided to ask Sirius about it later, knowing that he would have a better understanding of Muggle music.

Slughorn came up beside Lily and watched for a minute.  “Why are you mashing your ingredients? The instructions say to put them in whole.”

“The part of the beetle eyes that affects the potion is the juice inside. When you squish them, the juice can come out easier, causing the potion to have more potency.” She said, never pausing her squishing. 

James heard scribbling behind him, and turned to see Snape writing notes on what Lily had said. 

Slughorn looked at her beetle eyes again and turned, not wanting to be hexed for saying anything more. It seemed that everyone thought of her as someone not to be messed with. James looked down at her textbook, and saw that each of her notes had changed some part of the potion. She noticed him looking and smiled at him.

“Like I said, I don’t need help catching up in class.”

“I can see that. I’m happy just to show you how to navigate the castle.”

She smiled and poured her squashed beetle eyes into her cauldron. Suddenly remembering that he had a potion of his own, James went back to cutting up his beetroot. No one else commented on Lily’s unorthodox methods, but James kept hearing Snape writing notes.

At the end of the class, Slughorn passed out small seeds to test the potions on. Most people had small bushes, and a couple people had buds on their branches. Snape looked smug that his bush was the biggest that had sprouted, and that his buds had started to bloom. Everyone watched in anticipation as Lily took the plug out of her vial. It seemed like an eternity before Lily got a tiny drop of potion to put onto her seed. 

The class watched in awe as huge bush grew in front of her, and gasped when they saw large flowers go into full bloom. Lily smiled, and plucked a flower to put behind her ear.

“Beautiful.” James whispered, gazing at Lily. He turned bright red when he saw that she had heard. “The, er, bush. The bush is beautiful.” She smirked, raising an eyebrow at his hasty clarification.

“I think we might have a new top of the class!” Slughorn said, unable to take his eyes away from the bush, “I’ve never seen an Excrestco potion this powerful.”

James heard Snape grumble behind his, obviously not too pleased about losing his spot. 

In all of this, neither Lily or James had taken their attention off of the other. 

“Lunch?” Lily asked, standing and collecting her things.

“Sounds good.” replied James, mirroring her actions. 

They walked out of the classroom together, leaving their classmates and professor to marvel at the plant.


	2. Speaking Greek

Lily woke up with blurred vision and a pounding head. As she got ready, she thought back to the previous night, trying to remember what actually happened. 

She knew she went out to hang out with Sirius, and he brought a bottle of firewhiskey. After that, it’s just flashes. Laughter, sneaking out, a town, some stinging on her back. What had they  _ done _ ?

Just then she heard her roommates whispering behind her. Something about a wing? Her head was beating too loud to make it out. She turned and saw that they had been pointing at her. She shrugged it off and walked to the bathroom.

She started brushing her teeth, but then saw a movement near her neck. Confused, she lifted off her shirt and saw that there was a butterfly flying around on her torso. That explained the stinging on her back, at least. She would have to ask Sirius about it later to see if he remembered what happened and how she got a magical tattoo.

When she walked into the Great Hall for breakfast, she heard whispering around her. Why was everyone always whispering as she walked by? She didn’t think she was interesting enough to warrant it, especially after three weeks had passed. Well, she supposed it didn’t matter. They should talk to her if they wanted to know more. 

“Hi, Lily,” James greeted as she sat down next to Sirius. She smiled in return, then leaned closer to Sirius.

“What did we do last night?” she whispered, trying to make sure the others didn’t hear.

“From what I can recall, we each got a tattoo on a dare. I think we stole some brooms and went over to Hogsmeade to do it, but I’m not really sure.”

She nodded and sat up straight, putting some jam on toast. 

“What are you two whispering about?” asked Remus.

“How James could use a haircut.” Lily replied quickly.

James looked offended, and ran his hand through his hair. “You just wish you had locks as luscious as mine.”

Lily snorted and took a bite of her toast.

* * *

Lily found it strange how only the first years seemed comfortable around her. At Ilvermorny, at least, younger students tended to avoid the older students.

She supposed that it must have started the week before, when she heard a young student struggling to figure out what a spell did in the library. She turned the corner of the bookcase and asked if the student needed some help. The student and her friend next to her looked utterly petrified. She sat down and pointed to the written out version, and explained what the roots of the word meant. At that point, the two students became too intrigued as to what she was referring to to continue being scared. 

It was then that Lily realized that Hogwarts didn’t teach either Latin  _ or  _ Greek. She pulled out her translation guides and began explaining the roots of spells and where they originate from. More and more first years started gathering around. By the end of her lecture, there must have been at least twenty surrounding the small table. 

One particularly brave one asked her how they could learn Latin and Greek to figure the spells out. She smiled, stood up, and told them to follow her. 

They passed James, and she gave a small smile as a greeting. He gave her a confused look as a reply. She must have been quite the spectacle, a seventh year with dozens of first years following her through the library.

It was all worth it when she watched hoards of kids swarm the language section of the library. 

* * *

Lily found herself in Transfiguration, writing notes in her book as McGonagall lectured the class on the finer points of animal-to-animal transfiguration. It was a far cry from the animal-to-inanimate object transfiguration that they taught the younger students. 

She had her Latin book open in her lap. She was trying to come up with a spell that would make her broom block the rain or snow from her without slowing it down. All her previous attempts had ended with the broom going at a fraction of the speed she was used to. 

“ _ Miss Evans _ ”

Her head jerked up.

“I was asking what the problem with amphibian to mammal transfiguration is. Perhaps you will be able to help, since you are so far ahead that you can afford to not pay attention.”

Lily smiled. “The main drawback is that the amphibian brain will take the first opportunity to drown the mammal. That’s why most animal-to-animal transfigurations fail when going between different main classifications of animals.”

McGonagall looked pleased with this. “Correct. Please pay more attention in the future.” She continued with her lecture, and Lily continued flipping through her book. 

When class was over, everyone started gathering their things. Lily was rushing to try out her new version of the spell, when McGonagall called out to her. 

“Miss Evans. The headmaster has requested that you go to his office so that he might speak to you. Please do so directly after class.”

Whispers broke out across the room, and James looked over to her with a raised eyebrow, to which she shrugged. Remus chuckled beside him. She heard the girl next to her mumble something about being a player. Was she talking about James? She shook her head quickly, knowing she had bigger things to do than worry about rumors.

She made her way to the gargoyles, and realized that McGonagall had forgotten to give her the password. But, to her surprise, they jumped aside as soon as she stopped in front of them. Making her way up the stairs, she thought back to the past week, trying to figure out what she could have done wrong. 

“Ah, Miss Evans. Thank you for joining me today.” Lily sat down across from Dumbledore, and gave him a small smile. He didn’t seem particularly angry, but then again, he never did. “As you may have heard, yesterday we found a group of first years surrounding a destroyed painting. From what we understood of their explanation, they were trying to make a new spell to change the hairstyle of the resident of the painting.”

Lily cringed, thinking back to her first attempts at spells. “I’m guessing they tried to mix Greek and Latin. They should—” He put his hand up to stop her.

“I brought you here to talk to you not about what goes wrong in making spells, but to talk about the phenomenon of first years attempting to create spells in the first place. Would you happen to know where they got the idea of making new spells?”

Lily crinkled her eyebrows. “I showed them where to look to find out what spells do, but I didn’t try to put any ideas about making spells in their heads. I always found it important to find the roots of spells when learning them.”

Dumbledore nodded his head and reached out to pet his phoenix. “Yes, that is one approach to teaching students. Unfortunately, that is not the one we subscribe to here at Hogwarts. We prefer the one that does not result in smouldering paintings. So, I’m only asking you to not teach that to younger students anymore, and to gently lead them in the safer direction when they come to you with questions.”

Lily nodded, and stood to leave.

“Oh, and one more thing. If you plan to continue to make your own spells, I recommend looking for a room on the seventh floor to test them. I usually find the one across from Barnabas the Barmy quite helpful.”

Lily smiled, and nodded as a thank you. She quickly left his office to find her notebook of spells that she hadn’t been able to test yet. The last place she remembered putting it was in her wardrobe…

* * *

Several people looked up as she entered the common room. Sirius looked up from the guitar that he appeared to be trying to learn. 

“Evans! What did you get in trouble for, and should I be concerned?”

Lily smiled. “Just got told off for leading first years astray. Apparently I’m a bad influence and all that.” 

Sirius shook his head, and went back to strumming. 

After grabbing her notebook and replacing her robes with her leather jacket, she went back down determined to find Barnabus, and the room Dumbledore mentioned. 

Reaching the common room, she was relieved to see that James had joined Sirius. She walked up to him and grabbed his arm. 

“James! Doing anything? No? Perfect!” She started to drag him to the portrait hole before he could respond.

Once they were alone in the hall, she turned to him. 

“Would you happen to know where Barnabus the Barmy is?”

His look of confusion cleared, and he smiled mischievously. “I know exactly what you need.”

Not long after, they were staring Barnabus in the face. Lily turned around, and her face immediately fell. James noticed this, and took her by the arm, a mirror of what she did earlier. 

He began walking back and forth with her. She was starting to think that he might actually be crazy. 

“Think of what you need, and keep thinking about it.”

Confused but intrigued, she followed his instructions. Looking up, she found a door that she could have sworn wasn’t there before. Mystified, she barely registered James following her in. The high-ceiling room had dummies, mats, and even a fire extinguisher.

“I have got to ask, what is this room for?” 

Lily smiled and pulled out her wand. Opening her notebook to a random page, she began casting. 

* * *

Lying awake in her bed that night, she began thinking about all the things she heard. She weighed what she knew of James against what she heard of him. 

He couldn’t possibly have dated every girl in their year like she heard people saying, right? He seemed like such a nice boy. 

The James everyone talked about, suave, cool, and a heartbreaker, just didn’t line up with the one who watched her cast her spells, nice, sweet, and a bit of a dork. 

But is that just the persona he shows girls to get them to fall in love with him? Was she just another person for him to date and dump? She had no way of knowing which was the real James.

She didn’t sleep well that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, that took a long time to write. Hopefully the next chapter will be up in a more timely fashion.


End file.
